EZ-Bar Biceps Curl

Also known as: EZ Bar Curl, Standing EZ-Bar Curl, EZ Curl

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Body Part: Biceps

Description

Hold an EZ bar underhand on its outer bends and curl it from your thighs to shoulder height: the standard standing EZ-bar curl for bigger, stronger biceps. Both heads of the biceps do the bulk of the work, with help from the brachialis underneath and the brachioradialis on the thumb side of your forearm. The zig-zag bar turns your palms slightly inward, so most people feel less strain in their wrists and inner elbows than with a straight bar. For a different angle, try the straight-bar curl, the close-grip EZ curl on the inner bends, the EZ preacher curl or the palms-down reverse curl.

How to Perform

Pick a load you can curl without swinging, then take the bar from a mid-thigh rack or deadlift it up with a flat back.
Stand with your feet about hip-width, toes slightly out, knees straight but soft. Lightly brace your abs and glutes so your torso can't rock.
Hold the outer angled bends underhand, thumbs wrapped, hands about shoulder-width and equally far from the center. Palms face forward and tilt slightly in.
Breathe out and curl the bar up in an arc from your thighs. Only your forearms move; your upper arms stay against your ribs.
Stop when your forearms are about vertical and the bar is level with your shoulders, just below your chin, and squeeze for a second.
Take 2–3 seconds to lower until your elbows are fully straight, then pause briefly before the next rep.
When the set is over, put the bar back in the rack, or bend your knees and lower it to the floor with a flat back.

What Muscles Work

Primary Muscle:

Secondary Muscles:

Tips

Curl 8–15 reps a set, or 6–10 on a heavier day. Keep the weight and add reps until the top number comes in all sets without swinging, then add the smallest plates (1.25 kg per side). Fixed EZ bars jump 2.5–5 kg at a time, so expect a few sessions at each one.
You should feel the front of your upper arms, most of all from halfway up to the squeeze, with some burn on the thumb side of your forearms. If your lower back or the front of your shoulders starts working, the bar is too heavy.
Still rocking with a lighter bar? Curl with your back flat against a wall, as in the Barbell Wall Curl. To make it harder, take 3–4 seconds on the way down, pause a second with your forearms level on the way up, or move on to the EZ-Bar Preacher Curl.
Substitutes: Barbell Biceps Curl (straight bar, palms fully up), Dumbbell Biceps Curl (each arm lifts its own weight, handy if one side is weaker), Bar Cable Biceps Curl (the cable keeps pulling at the bottom), Close-grip EZ Bar Curl (same bar, hands on the inner bends).

Common Mistakes

Throwing the bar up with your hips and leaning back. Take some weight off, squeeze your abs and glutes and keep your knees still; if the rocking continues, do the set with your back against a wall.
Elbows drifting forward and up at the top while the front of your shoulders lifts the bar toward your chin. Keep your elbows by your ribs and stop once your forearms are vertical.
Stopping short at the bottom, so your arms never straighten. Lower to straight elbows on every rep, even if that means a lighter bar.
Hands on mismatched bends or off-center, so the bar tilts and one arm does more. Set both hands on the outer bends, the same distance from the middle, before you lift; the inner bends belong to the close-grip curl.
Wrists bending back under the bar or curling in at the top. Grip hard and keep your knuckles in line with your forearms on every rep.
Letting the bar drop and bounce off your thighs. Count 2–3 seconds on every descent and start each rep from a short stop; a heavy bar slamming into locked elbows strains the biceps tendon.